Service launched for India through Axis Bank, other corridors to open soon

Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the United Arab Emirates, announced the launch of an innovative funds remittance service, DirectRemit 2 Mobile that enables account holders in the UAE to transfer funds to any registered mobile phone number in India.

This pioneering service builds on the bank’s popular DirectRemit platform that allows money transfers in 60 seconds to beneficiary accounts. DirectRemit 2 Mobile is available for transfers to the UAE’s largest remittance market, India through Axis Bank, with other corridors expected to be launched soon.

Customers transferring funds using DirectRemit 2 Mobile can now remit funds simply by logging on to their Emirates NBD Mobile Banking and by providing the mobile number of the intended beneficiary. Subsequent transfers can be carried out through the bank’s mobile app at the click of a button with funds credited to any bank account in India.

The launch of DirectRemit 2 Mobile is the latest in a series of technology based product innovations designed to offer customers quick, secure and on-the-go banking solutions that match their busy lifestyles.

Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President & Group Head – Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD commented: “Emirates NBD has been a leader in the UAE’s fast growing digital banking space and continues to define convenient new ways for customers to bank. DirectRemit’s value proposition is centered on customer convenience, instant transfers and best exchange rates. DirectRemit 2 Mobile takes this a step further, by enabling customers to make on-the-go money transfers to friends and family, simply by using mobile numbers.

“Mobiles have become an inseparable aspect of our lives, and we foresee DirectRemit 2 Mobile revolutionising peer-to-peer international money transfers in the UAE as we expand the service to new markets in the near future,” added Sarkar.

The innovative service is being offered by Emirates NBD in conjunction with Empays Payment Systems India, a provider of payment solutions that enable banks to rapidly launch mobile based financial services and Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, the remittance partner for this service in India.

Sidharth Rath, President & Head – Treasury & Transaction Banking at Axis Bank stated, “Axis Bank is focused on delivering innovative and value-added services in the cross border remittances space, and our collaboration with Emirates NBD and Empays is an addition to the vast array of channels available for our customers to receive such remittances. We partner with various banks to provide seamless remittance facilities to beneficiaries in India and are pleased to support Emirates NBD, one of our key partners in the UAE, in bringing this solution to its customers.”

Ravi Rajagopalan, founder and CEO of Empays added, “We are delighted to partner with Emirates NBD to provide this first-of-its-kind service from the UAE to its customers. The Empays Payment Cloud (EPC) connects banks across the globe to enable digital payments to be made from mobile to mobile instantly and securely and at the customer’s convenience. We help Emirates NBD offer a unique differentiating service to their client base to cater to their remittance needs to India and elsewhere.

Since the introduction of the DirectRemit service to India in 2014, the platform has been received very favourably by customers with number of remittances increasing over five times. The funds transfer service is a key component of Emirates NBD’s value proposition to its expatriate customers, who annually remit funds over USD 30B, making the UAE one of the largest remittance originating countries in the world.